Election dropout Ken Chow quits pro-Beijing Liberal Party

Ken Chow Wing-kan – who abruptly suspended his campaign for a legislative council seat over alleged threats – has announced that he will leave the pro-Beijing Liberal Party.

In a public letter, Chow said incumbent party chairman Tommy Cheung Yu-yan had repeatedly urged him to leave the party through middle men. He also accused fellow member Felix Chung Kwok-pan, who recently announced his intention to become a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee, of refusing to renew his office’s contract in Tin Shui Wai.

Chow criticised the party for not truly backing him when it said it would put forward a motion at the Legislative Council to investigate threats posed to him.

He added: “From now on, I will separate myself from the Liberal Party. The reason is that I am not willing to be part of a political group with a flip-flopping position.”

In August, Chow abruptly withdrew from the elections after stating at a televised forum that agents from a “secret department” in Beijing had urged him to drop out. He claimed they held important information about people close to him and threatened to take action if he refused to comply.

In September, the Liberal Party said it may consider taking disciplinary action against Chow for halting his Legislative Council election campaign.

Chow later deleted his public letter on Facebook on Monday afternoon, only to reinstate it later on.

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